Morgan Render

Responsibilities

As an International Ministry Intern, I worked closely with the global department staff at Cornerstone, and most of my responsibilities focused on supporting our international ministries and meeting with international students at ISU. Some specific roles I had included coordinating and helping set up food, worship, childcare, and fun activities for our biweekly international fellowship gathering; meeting regularly with international girls; helping run our international ministry weekend retreat; and supporting missionaries our church is connected to. I also got involved in different programs at ISU that help international students learn English and connect with students from other cultures, as a way to research how members of our church can get involved and serve the international community in Ames. Throughout the semester, I also had more frequent opportunities to serve in the church, such as childcare on Sunday mornings, coaching youth in their worship-leading development, and helping with baptism services.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment during my internship was supporting and loving my international friends through difficult transitions and events this semester. I love that I got to help them feel more welcomed, seen, and appreciated through spending time with them. I care a lot about international students not feeling lonely and belonging to a community here, so it brought me great joy to do that as I met with friends and served in international/cultural ministries/programs.

Learning experience

One of the greatest lessons I learned was that a job is so much more fun if you actually enjoy the work you're doing and the people you work with. I could have chosen an internship more directly related to my field of study, but I knew it wouldn't be as applicable to what I plan to do for a career, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much! I was also so thankful to have coworkers whom I really enjoyed being around, as well as people in the ministries/programs who brought joy to my life!

What advice would you give?

Take classes and do something for an internship that you think would actually be enjoyable for you! Don't stick with what the general public is doing if it doesn't get you excited!